Santoryu's sucessor
by secretagentman1
Summary: C'mon self explanatory guys give it a shot please not yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**The Santoryu's successor**

**AN:Hey everyone this is my new idea for a one piece crossover,I plan on doing one for every male member of the straw hat pirates(only the males because I can't picture Naruto using Nami or Robin's techniques)and I'll try to keep them straight**

**This one is obviously is about the blond gaining the style of the swordsman of the straw hats,so enjoy.**

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

"**YELLING/Techniques"**

****

(Konohagakure)

Naruto Uzumaki,the blond-haired blue-eyed knucklehead,was currently sitting atop the Hokage monument. He was on top of the fourth hokage's head in a cross-legged position with a serious look of contemplation on his face.

You may ask, "Why is the dead last idiot thinking?" "What brought this about?",and "What is he thinking about?"

To answer all of those questions we start with the events that had happened earlier that same night. You see Naruto had become a ninja as of 30 minutes ago,he had proven himself worthy to protect his village like so many before him,but he didn't become one the traditional way. Naruto had failed the Graduation exam for the third time,and believed that his entire ninja career was over before it even started and like always he would sit on his swing,sit by and watch all of his classmates run to their parents and show off their Konoha headbands to them. He envied them so much he didn't have anyone like that,no one to hold him,comfort him,or care for him the closest thing he had was the third hokage,and even he couldn't protect him from the beatings the villagers would dish out. So all he did was endure it,the pain,the sorrow,until the day he would get strong enough so he could earn their respect and praise. But now that seemed impossible,he'd have to wait until next year in order to enter the academy,and he had to go through all of those boring lectures from Iruka again.

After this failure Naruto just felt like giving up and become a civilian. How bad could it be?I mean all he'd have to do is take his beatings,same as always,rummage through the trash,nothing new,and steal clothes from stores,same old same old. Then a miracle happened,his assistant instructor,Mizuki,came up to him when all the other kids left and offered him a "make-up exam" so he could become a genin. Of course Naruto believed him after all what reason did he have to not trust his instructor?

So Naruto set out to pass his "exam",it was simple enough,just sneak into the Hokage Tower and steal the forbidden scroll,then learn one jutsu from the scroll in order to verify that he had actually taken the scroll,and finally give the forbidden to Mizuki to pass.

It was sad when Naruto found out he had committed a crime against Konoha,his own people(granted they wanted him dead since birth)and he felt stupid for believing Mizuki. Not only did he fall for Mizuki's trick but Iruka had gotten hurt while protecting him,but he learned why everyone hated him. He was the jinchuriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox,the strongest of the nine biju,he was born during it's attack on Konoha and the fourth hokage decided to use him to keep it in check. Naruto almost believed everything Mizuki said and almost gave into despair,when Iruka,who still had the giant shuriken embedded in his back told Naruto that he never saw him as the demon fox,but instead thought of Naruto as his little brother. Those words brought Naruto out of his wallowing and got his head back in the game,and utilized the new jutsu he learned from the forbidden scroll the "Shadow Clone Jutsu"and with it he proceeded to beat the corrupt instructor into a bloody stain. After the short fight Iruka saw fit to give Naruto his Konoha headband for completing an A-ranked mission,which Naruto accepted wholeheartedly,but he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

So that brings us up to date. Naruto was sitting here thinking about what he wanted to do _'So the reason why everyone hates me is because I have that fox sealed in me?They'll never accept me as hokage. Well I'll show them,I'll become even better than the hokage,and to show how great I am I won't use any chakra,besides they'd just think it was the fox's if I used any.'_ Naruto thought to himself "Now the question is,how do I defend myself?"Naruto asked himself. He knew this decision was sudden,but he also knew that it wasn't unheard of to not use chakra,as a matter of fact he heard that there was some genin named Rock Lee who didn't have the proper coils for chakra but was easily one of the best genin,and there was this girl with twin buns named TenTen who only used **weapons**.

That was it Naruto could use a weapon it was so simple ,but he couldn't just pick a weapon up and use it. He needed his own original style one that no one would think to use,and preferably with swords,he always had a fascination with swords. So,Naruto had to do something he never thought he'd have to do,go to..._**The Library**_.

(Ninja library)

Naruto snuck into the dark place filled with the tomes that held the knowledge of ninja's past and the history of the Elemental Nations. Naruto himself didn't enjoy the library not only because he didn't like to read,but also because the librarian here was the normal stereotypical witch lady with bony fingers and those old lady glasses. Just thinking about her catching him down here at night,trying to steal a book made him shudder,though he decided to press on his ninja career was at stake. As he walked down the aisles Naruto took notice of how the books started to become dustier,and had signs of age on them,from tattered covers to yellow pages. But he pressed on coming to the section on swords,all he saw was the same styles over and over again at one point he started throwing the books he'd already looked at hoping to find something he could use.

Soon after dwindling the books down,he was left with two books that seemed to be the oldest out of all of them. The first book was by some guy named Roronoa Zoro and the second was by a guy named Kaku. He opened Kaku's book first,and found it interesting but figured out he couldn't use his style since he didn't know how to use **Rankyaku **in order to use the Yontoryu. He then looked at Zoro's book and was blown away at how amazing the guys style was,he read on and looked at his fights with the powerful characters he came across and always came out on top,and he even became the best swordsman of his time with his style.

Naruto then closed the book and decided to follow Zoro's style and become strong,strong enough to protect his precious people and earn respect. But,first things first he needed to find Zoro's original swords, Wado Ichimonji,Kitetsu III,and Shusui from their resting place,get some new clothes,and a haircut and he'd be ready to train.

(Academy-1 week later)

Iruka looked out over his entire class he was going to miss them all,even Sakura and Ino's daily races. If anything he wouldn't miss Sasuke,the kid was a little prick who thought that his near extinct clan made him a V.I.P in the village and entitled him to anything he wanted. Iruka was actually having an inward party at getting rid of him,and the chibi Iruka in his head was literally kicking Sasuke out while laughing manaically. But,Iruka knew the one person out of all his students that he would miss the most was Naruto,he'd miss his interruptions,and taking him out to Ichiraku's whenever he passed a test and even when he failed,hell he was even going to miss his harem jutsu(though he wasn't going to admit it)even if he lost most of his blood with each nose bleed. As Iruka entered that train of thought he realized that Naruto wasn't in his seat,and grew worried that Naruto may have given up after learning that he was a jinchuriki,or maybe he ran away from the village rather than take the villager's scorn,or he got kidnapped by-.

That's when the classroom door opened up and for some reason all was quiet as the person walked in,with only his footsteps being heard. The young man had a hard look on his face that seemed to be permanent. He had three gold earrings on his left ear,blond hair with a cropped haircut and a Konoha headband tied to his left bicep. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt with the only three buttons being undone,black trousers with the bottoms being tucked into his black boots,and his most unusual article of clothing being a green haramaki sash over his stomach with three swords being bundled to his right side. The first sword had a pure white hilt and a circular hand guard,the next sword had a floral pattern as its hand guard,and the last sword had a cross shaped guard. He took a quick survey of the room and seemed to sigh in relief "Thank goodness,I thought I walked into the wrong room again."he said as everyone had questioning looks on their faces "I'm sorry,but who are you?"Iruka asked,he sensed some familiarity with this boy but he couldn't put his finger on it. "I feel hurt,Iruka-sensei,you just saw me a week ago after taking that bastard Mizuki to the cleaners."the teen said as he realized who it was "Naruto?What the hell happened to you?" "A lot,lets just say my little friend won't be a problem."Naruto said as everyone became surprised that this guy was the dead last,while others wondered what he meant by "little friend". Naruto then made his way up the aisle and sat down in his chair**(The way Zoro did when he sat on Arlong's throne)** "Hey,wait a minute that idiot Naruto failed the graduation exam."Sakura pointed out as everyone looked to the now sleeping boy. **"WAKE UP,YOU IDIOT!"**she yelled as Naruto rubbed his eye and looked around "Hey,its morning already?"he asked no one in particular as he stretched "What are you doing here if you failed?"Sakura asked trying to embarrass Naruto "I didn't. I took a make-up exam given to me by Mizuki,but he tricked me into committing a crime. I beat him to a pulp and passed because I helped Iruka take him down."Naruto said simply wanting to go back to sleep "No way."Ino said as Naruto gained a tic on his head "What reason do I have to lie?You can believe whatever you want to believe,but I did take out Mizuki."he said as he went back to sleep,just to get woken up by Sasuke. "Where did you get those swords,dead last?"he asked since seeing them Sasuke wanted them for himself "I got them from a secret area where they were kept. I got them for the use of my style,and before you ask Sasuke,no you can't have them and judging by the vibes they're giving off they don't even want to be near you."Naruto said as he rested his right hand on the swords protectively.

Sasuke became livid at this information "What do you mean vibes?Those things are swords they can't feel. They're designed to take lives,and do whatever their master commands."Sasuke said as he got up ready to take the swords from the teen,when Naruto used his superior speed to grab his hand just short of touching Wado. "Watch were you're reaching Uchiha,or you might wind up missing a limb."Naruto said as it became a battle of strength. Normally if something like this happened to the Naruto of the past,he would be struggling to hold Sasuke back,but this new Naruto was holding strong and seemed to be overpowering Sasuke. That guess was made a fact when Naruto stood up with Sasuke still in his grasp and threw him back into his chair,surprising everyone there. "Naruto,what do you think you just did?"Sakura asked getting ready to punch him,but he soon turned to her with a piercing glare "If you want to lose your arm,continue with that punch."he said as he flicked Shisui out of its sheath with his thumb in a threatening manner and a sinister grin **(like Zoro usually does when he fight someone)** which did the trick and made her and the entire Sasuke fan club back off of him,and as an added bonus he was sure Sakura wet herself._ 'Naruto,seems so different from a week ago...so troublesome.' _Shikamaru thought and though he wouldn't admit it that glare put him on edge,and every genin in the room from what he saw _'Naruto he has gotten so strong,and just look at his muscles.'_ Hinata thought with a blush,and his tight shirt didn't help either.

"Who do you think you are?"Sasuke asked as he regained his bearings after getting tossed. Naruto looked down at him with a uninterested look "I don't know,I'm just a up and coming swordsman right now."he said as he placed his hand under his chin in thought "It doesn't matter,dead last,you can't just throw your betters."Sasuke said in his ever arrogant tone while Naruto raised an eyebrow "Really? Who's my better in this instance,not you I hope?"he said with a smirk aimed at him "Then fight me,if I win I get those swords."Sasuke said as Naruto grinned his creepy smile "Alright,let's do it."as they filed outside.

(Sparring Ring)

"That idiot is going to get beaten by Sasuke."Ino said as all the fangirls nodded "I don't think so,you may not have noticed but Naruto is stronger than Sasuke,and has the advantage of swordsmanship and no one knows how he uses them."Shikamaru told them but they didn't seem to listen so he did something that would make them listen "I bet that Naruto will beat Sasuke."he sighed out as the girls all turned to him with angry looks on their faces,and offered their own bet "Oh yeah,well we bet that Sasuke will win,and if he does we get to pick on Naruto whenever we want." "That's fine by me."Shikamaru said as Naruto looked down at him ticked "Don't agree to bets when they're about other people." "I guess you'll just have to win then huh?" Shikamaru said as Naruto still looked mad. "I would have won even if you didn't take the bet."Naruto said as he unsheathed Wado and held it in his left hand "You really think you can win with one sword?"Sasuke asked as he chuckled at him "Yeah,I do. Besides I need to work on my Ittoryu style anyway,but you won't be much practice."he said as he stood still when the match started **"Fire Style:Fireball Jutsu"**Sasuke started with his signature attack like always "He's so stupid."Naruto said as he took hold of Wado and brought it back,before he swung it up kicking up some air in the process **"Hawk Wave"**suddenly the giant ball of fire was split down the middle shocking Sasuke "You know if you didn't open with that attack every time,I wouldn't have come up with a way to counter it."Naruto said as he looked disappointed at having to fight this kid "Are you really this weak,Sasuke? Hm,I guess my training has spanned the gap in strength even farther."Naruto said to himself as he raised his sword horizontally across his left shoulder and using his right hand to support it **"36 Pound-"**he started as everyone was wondering how he was going to attack Sasuke from across the ring **"-Phoenix!"**Naruto called out as he swung Wado in a circular motion and the next thing anybody knew was that Sasuke got cut by the air itself and fell out of the ring,unconscious and bleeding from the attack ."How pathetic,he can't even take one of my weaker attacks."Naruto said as he looked down at the bleeding emo as his fan club came to his "aid". "Naruto Uzumaki is the winner."Iruka said,Naruto didn't seem to take pride in his win at all and simply sheathed Wado and began to talk to himself "Hm,that was hardly a first fight since gaining my swords. I think I'll put this away,and say it never happened." "Dead last,what do you mean?"Sasuke asked as he got up shakily with an angry look on his face "Oh,you're still conscious that's surprising. I was just saying that this little spar we just had didn't happen,if you can even call it a spar."Naruto said in a tone that made it seem as if Sasuke wasn't worth his time "This wasn't a spar,it was a fight."Sasuke stated. Naruto just shook his head and continued to walk...in the wrong direction.

Naruto was just about to leave academy grounds when a soft hand stopped him "Hm,oh hey its you." the person Naruto was talking about was none other than Hinata Hyuuga "What's up Hinata?"he asked the tomato-red girl who pressed her fingers together "You were going the wrong way,so I thought I'd help you."she said as Naruto seemed to just now notice that she was correct "Thanks Hinata. Maybe we could walk back together,my sense of direction has gone down the drain."Naruto said as he started walking back while holding Hinata's hand. The oblivious boy didn't notice the girl's flustered expression at the extended contact since he thought she was allowing him to lead,and would redirect him if he made a wrong turn.

(Back in the classroom)

Soon the duo made it back into the classroom,and as soon as their peers saw the two of them holding hands it triggered the gossip bomb. "Hey,Naruto whats going on?Is Hinata your girlfriend or something?"Kiba asked hoping he was going to say no,Hinata was his girl. The blond boy just raised his eyebrow at the question,Hinata was his friend and a girl,and so that thought process led to his answer "Yeah she is."Naruto said without knowing the true meaning of the words he just said. This made Hinata immediately faint with such a red face you couldn't make out her facial features,and Kiba looked like he wanted to kill Naruto,but was slightly afraid because of his previous performances that day. "Alright that's enough everyone. Its time to go over team placements." (Same as canon). "Team 7 is Naruto Uzumaki,Sasuke Uchiha,and Sakura Haruno."Iruka finished reading the names off the list,as he looked up he saw that Ino and Sakura were bickering and he heard the pink-haired girl talk about "true-love". He also saw Naruto sleeping again,and Sasuke trying to take his swords though Naruto was actually blocking him in his sleep. Iruka was sure that everything would be fine though...hopefully.

(3 Hours Later)

Team 7 was still found inside Iruka's class waiting for their jonin sensei to come pick them up. Naruto was still asleep,Sasuke gave up on the swords for now and was trying to keep the rabid banshee off of him. A few minutes later and a man with gravity-defying gray hair,his headband over his left eye,and half of his face covered with a mask walked in "My first impression is,I hate you."this,of course,made Sasuke scowl,and Sakura start screaming at him. Thats when Naruto woke up **('cause seriously would you be able to sleep if Sakura started to yell) **and saw some strange guy standing at the door "So your our sensei? You're kinda plain looking."Naruto said as he got up. The man just sighed "Meet me on the roof."he then disappeared in a swirl of leaves. "Hmm,interesting guy."the blond swordsman said as he walked up the stairs.

(On the roof)

**(I'll skip the whole introduction thing except Naruto's his is the only on that is different)**

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are my swords,training,sleeping,ramen,and sleep/training. My dislikes are arrogant assholes who don't know their place,and not having a good fight."Naruto said as all those present wondered how he sleep/trained. "Alright,now tomorrow is your official genin test."Kakashi told his students while two of them seemed surprised at this information. "But sensei we already took the genin exam."Sakura said "Yeah,so?That was a written test. How does a written test tell you that you're ready to take on missions?"Naruto asked as he looked at her. "Naruto's right. I'll see you soon,oh and I advise you not to eat,you'll throw up."Kakashi said as he once again vanished from his spot. "Well,_team_ I gonna go train. See you tomorrow."Naruto said as he walked away _'I wouldn't be surprised if we fail.'_Naruto thought as he returned to his apartment.

**AN:Done and it took a long time so enjoy**


	2. Chapter 2

**Santoryu's successor**

**AN:Alright everyone next chapter *inward cheer* so this is the genin exam,meeting Konohamaru,the genin teams,and another special person,and the start of the wave arc**

****

Naruto was currently sitting down at his dingy table in his crummy apartment eating his regular breakfast of ramen before he had to head down to the third training ground for his _**true**_genin exam.

He was eating because he didn't fully trust his sensei yet,and Kakashi hadn't shown him otherwise either. "Alright,I might as well head down there now,and at least try to _bond_ with my team."Naruto said as he grabbed his swords and a duffel bag filled with weights,and began to walk toward the training grounds.

(Third Training Ground)

As our blond protagonist arrived at the training ground he saw a sight that he'd have to get used to,Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to go out on a date with her,and the emo king was ignoring her to the best of his ability.

"How did you two become ninja?"Naruto asked as the two finally took notice of him "I mean,you both are just sitting here. Shouldn't you take this time to train?Sakura you're as weak and insignificant as a fly,and Sasuke,you're strong only because you're given everything you ask for on a silver platter."Naruto pointed out to the both of them.

Sasuke and his most loyal fangirl grew livid at his (true) proclamation "And just how are you strong,loser?"Sasuke asked the swordsman "I'm strong because I train regularly. What did you think I threw you by luck yesterday? I'm just stronger than you are."Naruto explained as he set his bag down.

"What's that bag for?"Sakura asked the blond as he looked up and sighed "If you're really as smart as you say,then you would realize that Kakashi is late again,and you can infer that he will be here within three hours again. So,unlike you slackers,I brought weights to train with while I wait."Naruto said as he took a pair of dumbbells out and started to do some curls with minimal effort.

"Why would you need to do that you're already weak. You can't change that."she said.

"Yeah keep saying that. If that were true Sasuke would be able to lift these,but he probably couldn't lift them off the ground. Now run along and bother your "love",I need to work on my strength so I can move on to the larger weights."Naruto said nonchalantly.

"Sasuke could easily lift those small weights."the banshee yelled at him. "No he couldn't these weights are close to a hundred pounds each."Naruto said as he continued his curls.

At his statement Sasuke got into the blond's face "Do you think I'm as weak as you? I could easily lift-." "Okay."Naruto said as he handed the Uchiha his dumbbells,and watched as he fell face-first into the dirt.

"You idiot what'd you do to Sasuke?" Sakura screamed "I told you he couldn't lift them,and now he's in the dirt because of his arrogance."Naruto said with a sigh as he lifted up the weights and started working out again.

(Three hours later)

The two more impatient genin were angry at their sensei for being late...again while Naruto had demonstrated his sleep/training ability as he was seen on lying on the ground asleep while doing his curls.

Just then Kakashi showed up in a swirl of leaves "Yo."was the jonin's simple greeting to his conscious students. "Unh,oh its you. So are we going to start this exam,or what?"Naruto asked as he placed his dumbbells back into his bag. The answer to the blond's question was just a lazy nod from the scarecrow.

"So,sensei what is the goal of our exam?"Sasuke asked wanting to show Naruto up during it,and laugh at his failure. "Its simple all you have to do is get these bells from me."Kakashi explained as he took out two bells tied to red strings.

"But sensei,there are only two bells."Sakura pointed out the obvious "I ask again. How did you become a ninja? Its obvious that only two of us will be able to pass."Naruto said in an annoyed tone of voice.

"Why you-." "Naruto is once again right. Don't worry though,it shouldn't be too hard after all going back to the academy is a good incentive."he eye smiled at the Uchiha and Haruno's expression.

"Not only will you be sent back to the academy,but one of you will be tied to a training post while the others eat."Kakashi smiled again at the weaker genin's growling stomachs. "Good thing I already ate."Naruto said with a smirk.

"You idiot,you weren't supposed to eat."Sakura blatantly "Yeah? Well if you listened you would've heard that he suggested that. He never told us not to eat."Naruto smirked.

_'Naruto should've been the top of the class judging by how perceptive he is. I might just make him the leader of the three.'_ Kakashi thought.

Unlike most of the village populace Kakashi didn't hate Naruto for the fox,in fact he was one of his most dedicated AnBu guards when he was young. Not only that,but he was a part of the few people who knew of his heritage and he understood that his sensei would haunt him if he hated his own flesh-and-blood,and he didn't want to risk losing his precious Icha Icha to a specter of his sensei.

"So starting now,you have until noon to get a bell from me."Kakashi said as he started the clock.

As soon as he started the timer Sakura and Sasuke darted into the trees around them in order to stage a sneak attack. The only ones that weren't hidden were Naruto and their soon-to-be sensei _'Scratch that comment,looks like he won't be in charge.' _Kakashi thought again.

The scarecrow then used his surefire strategy to rile genin up,he brought out his Icha Icha book and started to read it rather than fight Naruto. "You should take me seriously."Naruto spoke and drew Shusui and Kitetsu. The next thing Kakashi saw froze his brain,Naruto had sliced his book down the spine _'Luckily I have dual copies.' _Kakashi thought.

The pervert then took it upon himself to try and frighten his students by unleashing a good amount of his killer intent when he sensed his other two students try to mount an attack. They all,sans Kakashi,felt an intense pressure on them and froze at the feeling of it constricting their throats.

Kakashi himself felt some pride knowing his killer intent hadn't dulled since quitting AnBu,but he soon became surprised when Naruto stood straight up with a demonic smile and unleashed his own killer intent. Naruto's killer intent had practically snuffed out Kakashi's and spread throughout the training ground.

"You're not bad. Maybe you'll give me a _**real**_ first fight." Naruto said as he tied his headband around his head.

Kakashi watched on as Naruto hunched over and added Wado to his mouth finally showing how he used his three swords. _'He can't be serious.' 'Hn,its only natural that the loser would use an impossible style.' 'That idiot is going to get killed by sensei if he fights like that.'_ Kakashi,Sauke,and Sakura thought respectively.

"Naruto,you might want to fight me seriously as well."Kakashi said though all Naruto did was grit his teeth. "As a ninja you shouldn't underestimate someone based on their looks."the irritated swordsman said and crossed his arms over his chest as his headband shadowed his eyes. **"Oni Giri(Demon Slash)!" **with the announcement of the attack the cyclops' eye widened in amazement at the speed the genin was traveling at.

Granted he wasn't moving as fast as Guy could,but it was quite impressive to see any genin move that fast. Kakashi had to make sure that Naruto and Guy's student,Rock Lee had a spar sometime soon. The jonin finished his inner musings and used the substitution jutsu to avoid it.

Naruto used his attack and as he expected his sensei had used the substitution jutsu to replace himself with a log. What the blond didn't expect was the log to still be intact after he appeared on the other side of it _'Do I really need more training?I can't even cut through a log?'_ Naruto thought in disappointment and mild anger as he saw the log with only slightly deep cuts.

The two hidden genin were still perched in their trees,but when they witnessed Naruto's attack they dropped the kunai they planned to use for their sneak attack onto the ground and stared in awe._ 'How could this loser gain so much power?It should belong to me/Sasuke!'_ the pair thought as they continued watching.

"Whew,took me by surprise there. I thought that I was going to get hit."Kakashi said in a bored voice.

"Yeah?Well that was point. **Ushi Bari(Bull Horns)!**"Naruto said as he charged,like a bull,at Kakashi while rapidly thrusting Shusui and Kitetsu at him. The cyclops wasn't the least bit scared of the oncoming attack,he decided to instead take a kunai out of his pocket and started to deflect the thrusts with minimal effort.

Eventually Naruto stopped and ended up on the other side of the one-eyed man. _'Is this really the level I'm at? I need more training. Its obvious that I'll need __**their**__ help to pass,too bad I was hoping to do it myself.'_Naruto thought to himself _'The problem being will they actually help me?'_.

Naruto turned to stare at his sensei and saw him eye-smiling at his serious face. Naruto really didn't like that. He was scary and intimidating now,he worked hard for his new hardcore image.

The teen then shook his head before he charged again,right now he needed cover. He then took a position with his arms pointing outwards from his sides **"Tatsu Maki(Twister)!"**he spun creating an updraft of slicing winds that kicked up the dirt of the training ground that allowed him to escape undetected.

(In Sasuke's tree)

Sasuke was stunned to see the "Dead Last" hold his own against a sensei for that long,granted he didn't actually land a hit on him it was still impressive for a genin.

_'How could Naruto of all people gain these skills? They should be mine!'_ Sasuke thought in denial.

"Hey,duck-ass."Naruto said while getting the drop on Sasuke who had to refrain from crying out in shock.

"What do you want,Loser?"he asked the blond. "For someone that is supposed to be better than everyone else,you aren't that bright."Naruto said in a straightforward fashion,angering the Uchiha.

"I can tell by that face of yours that you were planning on charging in there to try and get a bell."Naruto said. "And if I was?"Sasuke asked the blond "You'd be taken down before you even got close to nicking him. He is a jonin for a reason. The only way that we'll be able to get a bell is with teamwork,after all when have you seen a genin defeat a jonin."Naruto explained to the emo.

"Hn,and you think I need your help? I'm an elite,I could get both bells without you and Sakura."he arrogantly said. "I knew you'd say that,but it didn't hurt to ask. You never know when an idiot will have a stroke of genius."Naruto sighed out.

The blond swordsman then jumped out of the tree and decided to try his hand in persuading Sakura into helping him. Meanwhile,after the "nuisance" left his presence Sasuke jumped down to confront Kakashi. Hopefully he wasn't going to get banged up too bad.

(In Sakura's tree)

"Hey,pinky are you here?"Naruto called to the girl.

She was still hidden in her tree debating whether she should answer him or not. _'On the one hand he could help me get a bell,on the other hand getting his help might make Sasuke hate me.'_the pinkette contemplated.

"Here you are. Why didn't you answer me?"Naruto asked the girl. Sakura would've screamed if he didn't put his hand over her mouth.

"Calm down,and listen to me. Now,use your rational thought here. Can a genin ever hope to defeat a jonin?"he asked her,and thankfully she shook her head "Unless the genin is Sasuke."she added.

"Yeah,sure,but a regular genin."he said receiving a "no" once again. "Good,now how can the three of us get a bell?"he asked her "Through teamwork,I guess. But what about Sasuke,shouldn't we get him?"Sakura replied.

"I already tried to get his help,the prick turned me down so he's on his own."Naruto said with his ever-present stern look. "Sasuke is not a prick!" "Yeah,yeah,I know. So are you going to help me,or not?"Naruto questioned the loud girl.

_'I can't get one on my own and Sasuke is already trying to get one,it looks like this is my only chance to pass.'_the girl thought "Fine. I'll help you."she said.

"Good,so here's the plan..."he went on to explain to the girl.

(Clearing)

Naruto was trying to put his plan into action but on the way to Kakashi's last location...he got lost. "Maybe it was a left instead of a right. I'm pretty sure I've been here before. Or does this place just look similar ?"he said to himself.

As he continued wandering around,Naruto stepped on something that seemed to grumble. "Well,look who it is. How did your strategy work out for you?"Naruto smirked at the head of Sasuke in the ground.

From the above point-of-view Sasuke looked to be just a head lying on the ground,but in actuality his body was buried up to his neck. This had happened to the emo when he tried to take a bell from Kakashi,which resulted in the cyclops using a headhunter jutsu on him.

"Shut up and help me."Sasuke said in a demanding tone of voice. "Gee,I don't know with that kind of tone. Maybe this is just a genjutsu to trick me,and maybe I'll just ignore it. Yeah,that seems like the best option."Naruto said and walked away with a smirk on his face.

(Starting area)

Eventually,Naruto made it back to the area that the test started at,and to his surprise Kakashi was there reading his Icha Icha.

Also,in a bit of serendipity Sakura was there as well to start the blond's plan when he finally showed up.

"Oh,I see that you're back. Has anything changed since your first attempt?"the cyclops asked. "I think we're about to find out."Naruto creepily smirked again as he rushed at the man.

Naruto immediately pulled out Kitetsu and Shisui **"Nitoryu:Nigiri(Two-Sword Style:Double Slash)!"**when Naruto said this he sped up and was in front of the one-eyed jonin. _'So fast!'_ went through Kaskashi's head before he dodged an upward slash.

"**Toro(Climbing a Tower)!"**after the slash Naruto spun in mid air and did a downward slash **"Otoro(Reply Climbing a Tower)!"**.

After he landed on the ground,Naruto had to roll out of the way of a fireball. Kakashi took out a kunai and went for a stab at the swordsman,but he got blocked by Shusui and ducked under an overhead slash.

While the two were clashing Sakura had a kunai in hand,ready to cut the string that the bells were attached to when an opening presented itself.

After a few minutes of clashing,Naruto eventually had to add Wado into the fight and placed it into his mouth. With the added sword Kakashi had to step up his game,so he started to use his experience to gain the upper hand again.

Eventually,Naruto got backed into a corner and had fallen to the ground in defeat. "That was a pretty good job,until I used my swordsmanship skills from my AnBu days."Kakashi commended the boy.

"Yeah?Well,its too bad that we just passed."Naruto said and looked at the jonin's questioning look "What do you-"but before he could finish a kunai flew past his hip and severed the string that the bells were tied to.

As they were falling to the ground Naruto sprang up,grabbed them,and tossed one to the hidden pinkette. Ironically the ending bell for the test went off just as the girl caught her bell.

"Wow,I wasn't expecting any of you guys to actually get the bells. I must be losing my touch."Kakashi sighed out as he passed the box lunches to Naruto and Sakura while Sasuke was tied to the training post.

"Okay,I'm going to eat my lunch in the village. Those two lunches are for you two the only condition is that you can't give any of it to Sasuke or all three of you will be sent back to the academy."Kakashi sternly said receiving nods from the two passing genin as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

After a few minutes of eating Sakura started to feel bad that she was eating while her crush had to suffer. Sakura couldn't stand to have Sasuke be hungry while she ate,but before she could offer her food to him Naruto stood up and cut him free from the training post.

"I already ate so I'm not that hungry anyway. Go ahead and eat,I need to get back to training."Naruto said as he dropped the food in front of the Uchiha.

Just then Kakashi reappeared with an angry look on his face "Didn't I tell you not to feed Sasuke?"he asked. "You did,but teammates can't abandon their team. It doesn't matter if he gets on my nerves,he is my comrade until I'm a chunin,and in that case I have to keep us all alive until then."Naruto stated coolly and not in the least bit effected by his sensei's anger.

"Really,is that so?"Kakashi asked. "Yeah,and if I have to I'll fight for our right to be genin."Naruto said getting ready to unsheathe his swords.

The cyclops then burst out laughing and went on to explain that the true meaning of the test was teamwork,he also said that after telling the hokage that they passed they'd start taking missions in a few days. Then he promptly left the training grounds.

"Well,that was lucky."Naruto said with a smirk as he continued walking through the village after leaving the training ground.

Currently the blond was heading toward the Kage Tower to talk to the hokage about getting a private training ground,so he could cut loose with his training.

(Kage Tower)

"Well,Naruto the only training ground that is fitting your preferences is Training Ground 44,but it also called-" "That's good enough for me,if it fills my parameters than give me some directions. I want to jump on training as soon as possible."Naruto interrupted the hokage.

"I understand,but this training ground is-"again he was silenced when a blur burst into the hokage's office. Naruto knowing his duty as a ninja was to protect his village leader brought out his sword and made for a slash that would cleave the person in two.

"I've got you now old man!I'll beat you and become the new hokage!"a childlike voice shouted and then screamed as the sword approached.

_'A kid?'_Naruto thought as he redirected the slash and only took off a few hairs. "What do you think you're doing?You could have killed me!"the kid with an extremely long scarf yelled.

"Me? What the hell were you doing you stupid kid?I almost sliced you in half. What idiot would rush into the hokage's office with a kunai and say 'I'm going to beat you'?"Naruto childishly argued with the boy.

"Naruto just calm down,this is my grandson,Konohamaru."Sarutobi told the teen.

_'Here we go. Now he's going to apologize,and treat me just like the rest of the village does.'_Konohamaru thought. "I don't care if you're his grandmother,the brat shouldn't do that. If I was faster he'd probably be dead by now."Naruto said and hit the boy with the dull side of his sword eliciting a cry of pain.

"How dare you strike the honorable grandson."a newly arrived man dressed in an all black jumpsuit wearing black sunglasses said. "Great another weirdo. Look this kid was trying to attack the old man,so I did what any ninja should do. After all,the day that I betray my beliefs and duties is the day I give up my dream."Naruto said with conviction.

Konohamaru was surprised with the level of determination in the blond's eyes "What is your dream anyway?"he asked. "I want to be the Elementals best swordsman and become hokage. With those dreams come a high level of skill and wisdom I've yet to obtain,but I won't give up on them."Naruto said.

"Hmph,as if a commoner could ever gain those titles,ones blood ties are what make them great. Its the very definition of all hokages,and clans. The best ninja are all a part of clans."the man said in denial.

"Then I guess I'll be the one to break that fact. Would you like to test me?"Naruto said as he sheathed his sword and held it in his hands. "I'm a jonin level ninja,I highly doubt you'd be able to scratch me."Ebisu said arrogantly.

"Really? Lets test that."Naruto mockingly said as the man charged at him. Naruto simply stood their and held his sword upright and in backhanded position.**"Ittoryu Iai:Shishi Sonson (One Sword Style Draw and Resheath Technique:Lion's Song)!"**Naruto sped forward as well.

Using his amazing speed Naruto rushed up to Ebisu,slashed him,and ended up behind him with his sword back in its sheath at waist level. To everyone,except the hokage,Naruto just ran past Ebisu and looked to have moved his sword into a different area. But they were proven wrong when Ebisu fell on the ground with a diagonal cut on his chest.

"Don't worry,he'll live I made sure to make the cut as painless as possible."Naruto said as he placed the sword back to his side. "Thank you,Naruto but try not to do this again."Sarutobi sighed as medic were called for the special jonin.

"You."Naruto called out to Konohamaru "Don't think that becoming hokage is gonna be easy,after all you've got me to worry about."Naruto smirked at the stupefied kid.

"**THAT WAS AMAZING,BOSS!"**He shouted to the stunned swordsman. "Boss,huh? Alright,fine just try to train harder. I can't have weak people callin' me boss,now can I?"Naruto smirked.

"You're right,I'll get stronger."Konohamaru said as he ran off. "Good kid,a little strange though."Naruto said but didn't notice the hokage's smirk as he was handed the directions to training ground 44.

As Hiruzen watched,he couldn't help but worry for Naruto,not because he couldn't handle the animals in the Forest of Death,rather he was afraid if he could handle the _**'who'**_ in the forest.

(Outside)

"Alright,I think I've got these instructions memorized. I should probably toss them,don't want anyone using my training grounds."Naruto said as he tore up the hokage's instructions and as soon as he took his first step he was going the wrong way.

(Random training ground)

"Hm,I was sure that this was it,but the old man told me that there were supposed to be giant trees."Naruto said as he started to look around. His eyes widened when he saw what looked like a giant boulder heading toward Ino,so he rushed over to the girl,and used his sword to push it in a completely different direction.

"What the hell are boulders doing here?There aren't even any hills for them to roll down."Naruto talked to himself as he surveyed the area to make sure there weren't anymore.

"Hey,Ino are you okay,you didn't get clipped or anything did you?"Naruto asked the girl that was on the ground. "Y-yeah,but that wasn't a boulder."she stuttered out a little surprised that Naruto of all people helped her out. "If it wasn't a boulder,what was it?"he asked.

Just when she was about to answer Choji emerged "What the hell,Naruto?"he asked. "Oh,sorry about sending the boulder over there Choji. I didn't even know you were there."Naruto apologized "No,that _was_ me."Choji said.

"Seriously?"Naruto doubted that very much. "Yeah,it was him. But damn Naruto,how troublesome can you get? Deflecting a 'giant boulder' like that,and to save Ino. I would've at least let her sweat a bit as payback. I mean sure I'd get beat up,but it'd be worth it."Shikamaru said as he appeared,and was soon on the ground after getting hit by the platinum blond.

"Hey,whats going on?"a new voice said that belonged to Asuma Sarutobi,the son of the hokage and a man Naruto knew from his childhood. Asuma would normally be around whenever Naruto visited the tower.

"Asuma? Well,I'm surprised you got these three as your genin team. Not only that,but you didn't even set up a real exam,all you're having them do is a spar."Naruto said as the man scratched his head.

"Cut me break,I mean Kakashi couldn't have done better."he said,but received a shake of the head by the blond.

"Whatever,sorry for interrupting. I'll see you guys later."Naruto said as he walked away.

"What a weird guy,and ever since he changed he's gotten weirder."Choji laughed,and joined Shikamaru on the ground thanks to Ino defending the blond that saved her.

_'What was up with that,doesn't she like the Uchiha?'_Asuma thought.

(Another random training ground)

"Dammit,this still isn't the right place."Naruto said with a scowl "The old man needs to write better directions."Naruto said when he was suddenly glomped. "Naruto,I'm so glad you're here I was just about to go find you."Hinata said to her unknowing "boyfriend".

"Uh,hey."Naruto said cluelessly to the Hyuuga main branch member "So,whats going on,did you pass?"he asked her.

She nodded her head to his question and hugged him harder,but let go when her team showed up.

"Hello,Naruto I hope your genin exam was eventful."Shino said with his usual calm voice. "Yeah,I passed. I'm trying to find a training ground recommended by the hokage right now though."Naruto explained as he took notice of the woman he presumed to be their jonin sensei staring at him with a critical eye.

"Um,hi,I'm Naruto Uzumaki. Whats your name?"he asked hoping to break the tension. "Kurenai Yuhi. So,you're the 'boyfriend' of Hinata?"she asked him. "Yeah."Naruto said still not fully realizing the meaning of the word "boyfriend".

"I still can't believe that she chose you."Kiba said as he grumbled to himself. "Oi,what the hell is that supposed to mean?"Naruto said in indignation. "You heard me,I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back.".

"Lets see you try,I took down a jonin level ninja a few hours ago."Naruto said getting ready to draw a sword. The ensuing fight was halted by Kiba's two teammates holding them back.

"Hmph,it doesn't matter you are so lucky that Hinata was here to stop me."Naruto said. "Damn,I need to find this training ground. See you guys later,nice to meet you Kurenai-sensei."Naruto said as he rushed off.

Kurenai kept her eyes on him she had wanted to meet him since Hinata had mentioned him during the introductions. _'He seems okay,but if he hurts Hinata at all he'll wish he were dead.'_she thought.

(Another training ground**[noticing a pattern yet?]**)

"Is this some sort of joke,old man? 'Cause I'm not laughing."Naruto said as he was in yet another training ground.

"Oh,well there can't be too many more to search through."Naruto started to walk away when his developed senses detected movement. The blond discreetly looked around and slowly started to unsheathe Wado to counter his unknown attacker.

Suddenly a shadow burst from one of the trees and dived down to strike the teen,but when it was close enough to attack him Naruto swiftly took out a sword. The shadow had narrowly avoided the slash that was aimed at its face and rolled across the ground into a standing position.

With the now standing person being visible Naruto took notice of his appearance. The boy had large white pupils that reminded him of Hinata's. He was wearing a khaki shirt,and brown shorts.

Naruto already didn't like this guy,he was practically exuding an aura of calm arrogance. He was basically Sasuke only without his more vocal form of arrogance "Hey! What's the big idea? I wasn't even doing anything."Naruto said to the teen.

"That may be true,but you're trespassing onto my team's grounds."the mystery teen said in a calm voice. "Okay,then why don't you give me a warning first?"Naruto said even more irritated than before. "Fate has deemed you unworthy to walk out of here without punishment. You are very unlucky to have stumbled into our grounds.". "Fate and I have a little history,and its never steered me wrong before. I don't know what fate you're listening to,but mine tells me that everything happens for a reason,and it doesn't favor anyone."Naruto said coolly.

The boy scowled at the blond "I'll enjoy taking you down."he said "Good,There has been enough talking."Naruto growled as he and the teen rushed at each other.

Before they could reach other they were stopped by two newcomers.

"Neji! You are committing a very unyouthful act! Can you not see that this is a fellow Leaf ninja?"a bushy browed teen teen scolded the now named Neji. "I apologize for Neji's rudeness!"the boy said as he bowed to Naruto repeatedly.

"Its okay. Some people are just bastards on their own."Naruto stated which angered the Hyuuga and the green jumpsuit wearing boy stifled a laugh. Naruto was a little weirded out that he was wearing a jumpsuit that was worse than the one he used to wear. He was about to take his leave when the girl who stopped his charge spoke to him "These swords are amazing. Where did you get them."she said with stars in her eyes.

"I got them from the secret burial ground of a famous swordsman."Naruto said "Are you into swords?". "A little,I use a wide variety but they're my go-to weapon."she explained "That's pretty cool. Maybe we should spar sometime,I could use more practice against other weapon users and long range fighters."Naruto smirked at her.

"Yosh,a spar shall make your flames of youth grow brighter!"Lee yelled which embarrassed the girl. "Lee,stop it."she whispered to the boy who had a puzzled look,before a sly smirk appeared on his face.

"My beautiful students,what has stopped your training session?"a man dressed similarly to Lee asked. The man looked to see Neji glaring,Tenten was staring with longing,and Lee was smirking,all at the same blond.

"And who might you be?"he asked "I'm Naruto Uzumaki."he answered simply. "It is a pleasure to meet you,I see you've already met my team."he said. "Yeah,so who're you anyway?".

"I am Might Guy,jonin sensei of Team Guy."he introduced himself while doing weird poses. "Geez,you guys are pretty weird."Naruto seriously said making the jumpsuit wearers slump to the ground,Neji glare even harder,and Tenten blush.

"Who is your sensei?"Guy asked "Kakashi."Naruto answered. After his answer Guy went on to rant about how "Kakashi's coolness rubbed off on his students".

"I'm gonna go see you around."Naruto waved as he left.

"Lee what is with your smile?"Guy asked "Guy-sensei,Tenten's flames have grown much brighter. She has found a special someo-gack!"Lee said while Tenten choked him with her face red with rage,or embarrassment.

(Training Ground 44)

"Finally,this place better be good."Naruto said as he walked into the forest.

"Whoa,this place is great."Naruto said in amazement as he sensed the number of fauna in the area,and the aura of death. "This place is perfect,these trees are great slashing practice and hopefully the animals are tough."Naruto smirked as he looked around.

Without warning something landed on the blond and forced him onto the ground "What the hell?"he said as he kicked the person off of his body and drew Kitetsu and Wado.

"What do you think you're doing here kid?"a feminine voice sounded. "I'm here to train,the old man suggested to come here."the blond replied "Yeah?"the woman asked as she walked out of the shadows.

The woman was wearing a tan overcoat with mesh underneath,but nothing else was under it,and she had a dark orange miniskirt.

"Hm,not very modest are you?"Naruto asked the woman who seemed to watch him like a hawk. "I suggest you leave,there's no way a shrimp like you can survive in here."the woman smirked at him.

"If I die then fate wasn't with me,its best for me to die trying at least."he said as he walked in deeper and she followed.

(A few minutes later)

"You know if you don't like me,you shouldn't follow me."the teen said in an irritated tone. "No way,I don't know what you're up to so I'm not letting you out of my sight."she said.

"Ugh,since we're stuck together why don't you tell me about yourself? You may even trust me after our talk."Naruto offered so the woman would back off.

Anko at first wanted to talk to humor him,but it eventually turned into an actual conversation and the two found some common ground with both of their backgrounds. The woman had to admit that the blond was charming even if he didn't realize it,if only because he spoke what was on his mind no matter what it was. Not only that,but when they had come across a few of the smaller animals in the forest he easily dispatched them resulting in a few of their deaths and the survivors learned who the new boss of the forest was. The next few weeks were going to be fun for Anko.

(A few weeks later)

"Come on,old man there has to be a higher ranked mission."Naruto said speaking for his team. Team 7 had been doing D-ranked missions for a good month or so now,and they were getting peeved Naruto was the only one who seemed to not care. He thought of them as light training and whenever he had downtime he'd train in the forest or his fellow genin,hell he even let Konohamaru hang around him.

"Well,Kakashi what do you think?"Hiruzen asked the cyclops "Well,they did complete the required number of D-ranks. Sure,why not."he answered.

"Alright there is one C-rank mission we have. Tazuna,you may come in."the hokage ushered in a grey-haired old man who was drinking as he walked in.

"This is all I have for protection? A cyclops,an emo,a weak girl,and a wannabe swordsman."Tazuna said in disappointment.

The other two members of Team 7 were irate at the man's classification of them,but Naruto was suspicious _'What does he mean "this is it" fresh genin teams are given up to at least C-rank,so why was he expecting more?'_Naruto thought.

After their sensei explained that they were up to the challenge the genin went to their respective places of residence to pack for the trip to Wave.

(Konoha gate)

"Do you really need to bring all those beauty products?"Naruto asked the pinkette. "At least I brought something,all you did was change shirts."she pointed out. Naruto now wore a navy blue shirt with whirlpool patterns,and instead of having it closed he had it open showing off the muscle he had gained from his training. Sasuke was off to the side trying to keep away from his team.

"Okay team all set?"Kakashi asked receiving nods as Team 7 took their first steps out of the village for a mission.

**AN:Done,bet some of you didn't expect me to use Zoro's shirts from the manga. More importantly is anyone else surprised about the MA system. All of us need to work together to stop this,or at least gain the upper hand. Peace. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Santoryu's Successor**

**AN: OK this chapter is pretty much the wave mission. Sorry if I don't have a witty beginning**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff, just the story concept**

The walk to Wave was very uneventful for Team 7 since it mostly involved keeping Tazuna away from any booze, and making sure Naruto didn't stray from the path and end up lost again. Thankfully, one of the problems was solved easily but the solution was thought up by Naruto, which involved Naruto drinking all of it himself rather than Tazuna do it. The surprising thing was that he didn't even seem to mind drinking, and when he was questioned about it he countered with the law in the Leaf saying that once you're a ninja you are considered an adult.

"Geez, old man, don't you have anything stronger?" Naruto asked as he drank his 17th bottle of sake and tossed the empty bottle into the forest. "Don't you think that's enough?" Kakashi sweatdropped at the teen "No, once I get drunk its enough." he corrected and grabbed another bottle.

As the bridge builder and genin team continued they eventually came to a clearing in the forest, that seemed relatively safe to the naked eye. The only thing there was a small rain puddle which they passed by without a second glance. Of course, Kakashi noticed the unusual puddle seeing as it hadn't rained in some time, but he was unaware that Naruto noticed it as well. The teen just decided to wait out the obvious enemies and see what would happen if it was left unnoticed.

Once the group was past the puddle two identical men burst out of it and launched chains from gauntlets on their arms that were riddled with blades. The chains then wrapped around Kakashi "That's one down." one of them said as they used the chains to tear the jonin apart.

The shock was apparent on almost everyone's face at seeing the man torn to pieces, the only exception was Naruto and his face still had the same hard look "And here I thought our sensei was strong. Guess I was wrong about that." Naruto said, uncaring. "It looks like this kill will be fairly easy, brother." the one on the left said while chuckling along with his twin. "How about we give you a chance to live? If you give us the old man we'll just kill him and go." the one with smoother hair offered the three genin, and Sasuke and Sakura were seriously thinking about complying.

"Hell no." Naruto finally spoke up "If you think I'm going to let some chunin rejects beat me, you've got another thing coming." Naruto told them defiantly while continuing to drink his bottle of alcohol.

The two men were outraged by the teen's insults and decided to charge at the swordsman. They unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks in an attempt to take him down, but the teen used his sword to block them and started to twist his body around them **"****Toro Nagashi (Sword Wolf Floating)"** Naruto calmly said as he appeared behind them and caught the bottle he threw up into the air prior to the attack.

The men were stunned at the fact the kid had dodged all those attacks, and even more so since he taunted them by cutting their clothes up, showing he could have slashed them at any time.

"Are you sure you're chunin, or have years of inaction caused your skills to dull ?" he asked them. Naruto was sure that even Mizuki would be able to defeat these two idiots. Seriously, who has a genjutsu of a puddle when it hasn't rained for weeks?

"We'll show you!" Gozu exclaimed at the teen's calm demeanor "I sure hope so, or else this fight would be disappointing. Before we start, I need to ask something." Naruto told the brothers, who decided to listen to the boy. "Usually, there are more ninja hired for assasination jobs. Are you the only two, or are there more?" Naruto asked, and even though he couldn't see it he knew they were smiling. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know." they cryptically answered.

"Not too much, it was just a question. If your not going to answer, thats on you." he told them. After the talk was over Naruto rushed the two brothers, and most likely would've beaten them again if Kakashi didn't knock them out himself.** (I know, but you know who the next person is so Naruto needs his strength)**

"You know, if you were going to take them yourself, you should have done it yourself." Naruto told the jonin with an irritated look. "Sorry, I just wanted to see how you guys would handle it." he told them with an eye smile, "Yeah 'cause those two did _**so**_ well." Naruto said in a voice dripping with sarcasm. "What was that?" "You heard me, duck-ass. Want to try something?" Naruto asked his teammate.

"So what if I do?" Sasuke asked, "I hope you don't mind missing a limb." he told him. While the two genin were arguing Kakashi was questioning Tazuna, since a C-rank mission usually has only minor bandit not chunin-level ninja. The old man's explantion was that he simply didn't have enough money, with Gato extorting so much from them, for anything higher than a C-rank.

"Well, this is one of those team decisions." Kakashi told his team, "Well, I for one want to save this place. I'm also a little curious to see who their cohorts in this are." Naruto said with a hint of bloodlust. "I want to continue, its a stepping stone to the Uchiha clan's reemergence." Sasuke voiced his opinion "How totally selfless of you." Naruto sighed.

Sakura of course was going to vote to go back, but it wouldn't matter since she was already out voted by her teammates. "Well, Tazuna it looks like we're here to stay." Kakashi eye smiled.

"Can we get a move on? I'm tired of standing around." Naruto told them and started to walk, surprisingly in the right direction.

(Wave)

Currently, three of the four ninja were seated in a boat with their client and the boatman. The crazy swordsman blond however decided to have a light swim rather than ride in the boat. Which explain why splashing was heard next to it "Are you stupid? You could catch a cold if you keep doing that." Sakura told him.

"I'll be fine. I've survived a lot worse than a cold. Plus, how could I pass up a swim in subzero temperatures? This could seriously up my endurance to the cold, and I work on my arm and leg muscles." Naruto told her as he continued to swim in the freezing water.

(Incomplete Bridge)

Once the team had gotten ashore they paid the boatman, and walked across the near-complete bridge. "I gotta say this thing is pretty impressive." Naruto said with a whistle of astonishment.

"Thank you. This bridge is our last hope of escaping Gato's stranglehold on us." Tazuna said with pride in his voice.

"Hm, ever try to just kill him? If he's the kind of guy that hides behind hired hands, it should be pretty easy." Naruto offered to the man. "We can't. He never leaves without his entourage of mercenaries right behind him." Tazuna told him in sorrow.

"Don't worry, if I see the guy it won't matter how many mercs he has with him." Naruto smirked, but it was halted when he stabbed his sword into a bush.

"I know there was someone here, but I don't know what this is doing in his/her place." Naruto said with anger in his voice at letting an enemy escape and while holding up a rabbit by the ear that narrowly escaped being stabbed.

"Those senses of yours must be terrible." Sasuke said in amusement at the swordman's blunder. "Not true. What do you all notice about this rabbit?" Kakashi asked his students.

"Its irrelevant." "Its adorable." "Its lunch." Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto said respectively, and the rabbit had started to sweat at Naruto's comment.

"No, it has its winter coat when its spring." the sensei pointed out to them. "Which means it was raised indoors." Sakura piped up catching on to the man's thoughts "Precisely, and if Naruto's senses were right it means someone probably used it as a substitution." Kakshi concluded.

Just then a loud whizzing noise was heard and Kakashi had Sasuke and Sakura duck while Naruto just stepped to the side to avoid a giant cleaver. _'That looks like!'_ Naruto thought in a mixture of fear and excitement at who possessed the weapon.

"Well, well if it isn't Hatake Kakashi and his brats." a man that had no eyebrows and bandages covering the lower half of his face said from his position on the sword's handle while the blade was embedded in a tree.

"Zabuza Momochi." surprisingly it was Naruto that said the man's name while looking up at the ex-swordsman.

"Hn, and how do you know me kid?" Zabuza asked in curiosity. "I know your name because you're one of the things that stands in the way of my dream." Naruto said to him. "Naruto, you need to stand down." Kakashi told his genin who just looked back at him.

"Shut up." he said simply to the cyclops which shocked all those present since they knew that he was the leader of the team. "I'm not just going to listen to you because you outrank me. I need a reason to respect you before I do that, and so far you haven't shown me anything that warrants it." Naruto told him, and he was correct so far the man hadn't done much _real _fighting since they became an official team.

"**NARUTO! YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO KAKSHI-SENSEI!"** Sakura yelled at him, and in turn he glared at her which made her shirk away from him.

"I'll listen when he proves himself. In the mean time, I'll be fighting no-brows." Naruto told them with his manic smirk showing.

_'This kid has a lot of killer instinct.'_ Zabuza thought as he looked down on the young swordsman. "Do you really think you'll be able to beat me kid? Just look at those flimsy swords of yours. They'll crack under the pressure of mine easily." he taunted him.

"If you were a true swordsman than you'd know not to underestimate your opponent. One of my swords is a lot heavier than the others, and I can tell its heavier than yours, besides it doesn't matter about the sword quality its about the swordsman." Naruto told him.

"Keep telling yourself that, kid." Zabuza said as he jumped off the tree, taking his sword with him, and made to slash him. Naruto also took out Shisui, and used the black and red blade to deflect the man's slash.

"What!?" "Like I said. Heavier than yours." Naruto repeated and proceeded to pull out his other swords, and that's when Zabuza laughed at his style!

"Are you some kind of fool? What swordsman fights like that?!" he continued to laugh. **"SHUT UP!"** Naruto yelled at the laughing man "What is with everyone thinking my styles stupid?" Naruto questioned himself as he rushed at the man **"****Tora Gari (Tiger Hunt)!"** Naruto attacked the swordsman and he wasn't all that surprised when the man blocked the three swords with his blade.

"Hn, I guess that style isn't all that bad." Zabuza said with his joking side completely gone. "I'm glad you think that. Getting recognized by one of the legendary mist swordsman is an honor." Naruto said with his smirk present even though he was getting pushed back by the larger man.

Eventually Zabuza exerted his superior strength a launched Naruto away from his person, which resulted in the blond almost crashing into Sakura. _'His strength isn't anything to scoff at. Even though he's getting on in years, his skills haven't dulled.'_ Naruto contemplated to himself, and tried to figure out a way to beat him.

"I don't have the time or the patience to deal with you children. I need to off the old man." Zabuza said as he raised one hand above his head and another in front of his face.

It was then that a large cloud of mist rolled in from nowhere and covered the bridge, blocking everyone's vision with its abnormal thickness. **"Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in Mist Technique)!"** Zabuza exclaimed as he disappeared from the bridge.

"Is he running away?" Sakura asked no one in particular "Of course not. Don't be a fool." Naruto told her as he stood rooted to the ground, in the same exact spot since being pushed away.

At this point the assassin was trying to psyche the genin out by explaining the different spots that could instantly kill them, not that Naruto was listening since he'd heard worse in the Leaf.

Naruto was beginning to get impatient with the man's tactics, and felt relieved when he appeared in between the other two genin and the client. "I've got you now." he said posing to strike the bridge builder.

Naruto moved to intervene, but his sensei beat him to it as he showed up behind the swordsman with a kunai to his throat. Of course the swordsman didn't like this one bit, so he did something that shocked all of those present.

Naruto tried to slash the cyclops, and after his attempt the blond held his sword out toward his sensei "I told you already. This. Is. My. Fight." Naruto emphasized with a deadly glare.

"I want to be the world's greatest swordsman, and hopefully the first hokage that doesn't use chakra, but being hokage can easily be let go. Besides being a missing-nin would keep me on my toes." Naruto said in all seriousness.

"You idiot! Don't attack your sensei!" Sakura yelled at him, but when he turned to her she backed away in fear mumbling about some 'three headed demon'. "Are you sure you can win?" Kakashi asked the blond.

"Nope." he replied and turned around to engage the the Mist swordsman.

"**Nitoryu Iai: Rashomon (Two-Sword Style Draw and Resheath Technique: Castle Gate)!" **Naruto attacked the rogue swordsman with a powerful twin slash that would have cleaved the man in two, if it wasn't for him blocking them which caused them to veer off course and leave shallow gashes in the bridge.

"**I THOUGHT YOU'D BE PROTECTING MY BRIDGE! NOT DESTROY IT!"** Tazuna yelled at the blond who had appeared behind Zabuza after his failed attack.

_'This guy's skill hasn't dulled at all from his years of inaction. Not at all like those other two.'_ Naruto thought and ducked when the man went for an overhead slash.

Naruto then retaliated with a triple slash that nicked the man's side with a moderate cut. "Not too bad, kid but you still have a long way to go before you can beat me." Zabuza boasted. "Yeah? Well we'll see about that." Naruto countered and clashed with the former mist swordsman.

Eventually, seeing as Naruto wasn't up to par with the original user's strength, so he was being pushed back by the man's superior strength. "Just give it up!" Zabuza shouted as he ceased his pushing which made Naruto fall forward, and get slashed across his stomach, eliciting a scream of pain from the blond as he fell onto his knee and was kicked away from the man.

_'Nngh! That hurt.' _Naruto thought in mild pain, and looked at his first _true _cut as a swordsman. Naruto then got up, ignoring the blood flowing from his stomach, lucky for him it wasn't deep enough to reach his organs.

"I'm not gonna give up that easily. If I want to be the greatest swordsman, I have to stay alive." Naruto said from his position.

"That bravery is wasted. You don't have the necessary strength to back up your words, and with that..." Zabuza said and dashed towards the group "you can't protect anyone!" he shouted and was about to bring his zanbatou down on them.

Using his speed Naruto ran in front of the sword and shielded the group, which earned him a large diagonal cut starting at his left shoulder and ending at his right hip. Immediately after the sword reached the ground the blond collapsed and started to breath shallowly and cough some blood up occasionally.

"You see. Protecting people is a crutch that will hinder a swordsman." Zabuza taunted as he made to finish the blond off, but he was intercepted by the boys sensei.

"What kind of swordsman attacks a downed opponent?" Kakashi asked the man while Tazuna and Sakura were trying to make sure the boy was alive, and Sasuke didn't care either way if he lived or died.

"I'm a missing-nin. I have no obligation to fight a sword-toting kid that calls himself a swordsman fairly." Zabuza stated his thoughts on the blond, and how he didn't even consider him a swordsman.

"You'll be eating those words!" Kakashi shouted as he lunged at the man.

**(Basically the same fight)**

"It's over Zabuza. Its just like I told you, your future is death." Kakashi said with his Sharingan eye showing as he stared down the former mist swordsman. Just as the sensei was about to end the rogue's life two senbon needles came out of the surrounding forest, and punctured the man in the neck causing him to die quickly.

After a few seconds a hunter-nin had dropped down next to the 'dead' body and greeted the remainder of Team 7.

"Hello, I must thank you in your help in apprehending Zabuza Momochi. He will be brought to justice." the feminine voice said from behind her mask, as she moved to pick up Zabuza's body but was forced to dodge when the half-dead blond made to slash her.

"What do you think we are, idiots?" Naruto said, breathing heavily and looking like he was in a tremendous amount of pain just from standing up. "I've no idea what you are implying." she countered.

"If you're really a Mist hunter-nin, then destroy his body. You're supposed to after kill your target. Aren't you." he said as more of statement than a question. When the girl's cover was blown she immediately threw senbon at the group, who had to take the time to avoid the needles, and beat a hasty retreat with the unconscious Zabuza on her back.

It was also in that instant that both Naruto and Kakashi collapsed from wounds and overexertion respectively.

(Tazuna's home)

After carrying the two passed out ninja to his home the group had immediately started to tend to Naruto's wounds, hoping the blond would survive the night. Kakashi got off lucky with only minor injuries and chakra exhaustion.

The two genin had also met Tazuna's daughter Tsunami and his grandson Inari. Tsunami was very hospitable in spite of the circumstances they were living in while Inari was very depressed and wallowing in bottled up anger.

The boy had vehemently expressed the groups 'futile' attempts at stopping Gato. It was so bad that the ninja were wondering if the kid needed to take some antidepressants.

(A few hours later)

"Ugh! What? Where am I?" Naruto spoke aloud as he looked around at the unfamiliar room. When he sat up he saw that his sensei was beside him, conscious and staring up at the ceiling.

"Its good to see that you're awake, Naruto." Kakashi simply said to his student. "Yeah, well I guess its good that you're still alive, but that doesn't mean I fully respect you yet. Even if you could go toe-to-toe with that guy." Naruto replied to him coldly making the jonin sweatdrop at how bluntly the blond had affirmed his rebellious nature.

"Oh, your both awake." a woman's voice said. She was wearing a pink shirt with a red collar, and blue hair with two large bangs framing her face.

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto asked and the woman was instantly in his face, popping his personal space bubble.

"A young man shouldn't be using that kind of language, and it is customary to give your name first." she told him in a no backtalk tone.

"My name is my business, and I can speak however I want your not my mother." he told her, though she didn't seem to appreciate those answers and decided to prod his wound from Zabuza which made the boy writhe in pain.

"You should be nicer to the one who sewed your wound up, mister." she told the blond who was muttering incoherently before the woman pinched his cheek. "And since you think you can go on doing whatever you want in someone else's house. You'll be helping me in the kitchen as gratitude." she commanded him.

"Fine, enough already, please!" Naruto cried from the pain he was experiencing at the hands of the woman.

Kakashi was just laying there dumbfounded by the woman that had made his student surrender so easily.

(Dinner Time)

After Tsunami and Naruto had finished cooking (though the swordsman was completely against the idea of using his swords as knives) they had set the table with everyone in the house filing in soon after.

"Well, if it isn't the young swordsman. I have to thank you for protecting me back there." Tazuna thanked the blond with a large smile, he was really glad to be alive so he could see his daughter and grandson again.

"Yeah, sure thing old man, but if you really want to thank me you should get me another round of drinks." Naruto grinned.

"Its nice to know someone else in this house loves a good bottle of booze." the old man said and shared a laugh with the teen, but Tsunami shut them both down with twin blows to the head.

"I was hoping you'd end up dead, loser. I could have finally gotten those swords." Sasuke finally spoke up. "Hm, even if I died my swords would have found some way to get to the next worthy owner. I'm just glad that you survived, I can't have you go and die on me." Naruto smirked knowing he struck a cord for the Uchiha by pointing out that he had saved his life as well.

"I didn't need your help!" he yelled to the laughing teen swordsman "It sure looked like you did." Naruto laughed hard, and it continued like this for a good few minutes, before a voice sounded.

"All of you are complete idiots." Inari said from across the table effectively silencing the rabble.

"Can't you see that Gato is unbeatable? You'll only get yourself killed if you fight him!" the boy shouted at the ninja.

"Inari, that's inappropriate. They were hired to make sure that Gato would be defeated, and we'd be freed from his grip." Tsunami said trying to defuse the growing hostility.

"Gato has an infinite number of mercenaries at his beck and call and those two guys that had recently beaten you. Two of you almost died! There's no hope for defeating him. Our only option is to-" Inari's rant was stopped by a sword dropping right in front of his face.

"So, your abandoning all hope, is that right?" Naruto said in a deadly serious tone, as he lifted his sword to the boy's neck. "Hm, wimps like you deserve to die. If your life is as hard as you say it is, maybe you should kill yourself right now and spare us anymore of your drivel." Naruto said seriously with no hint of joking in his voice.

"Naruto you shouldn't-" "Shut up! We're here to help these people, right? With the way this kid is acting, death can be the only way to help him." Naruto emphasized when his sensei interjected.

The teen was beginning to press the sword against Inari's neck at this point, but just when it was about to draw blood Naruto stopped and sheathed his sword. "You're lucky that I don't want your cowardly blood on my sword, kid." Naruto said as he turned back to his seat.

"Kakashi, judging by Zabuza's wounds how long do you think it'll take for him to get back into fighting shape?" Naruto asked as if he hadn't threatened to kill Inari at all. "I'd say about a week of recovery. Why?" the cyclops asked his student who had hurriedly finished food after hearing that information, and toward the door.

"I need to train. Get stronger so I can take him down next time." Naruto elaborated to them as he was about to set out.

"What good will a week of training do you, loser?" Sasuke teased believing that it was impossible to get stronger within a week.

"For one thing, training is training no matter how little it is in work or time,you'll improve even if it is miniscule. I also need to make sure I'm able to beat him in order to achieve my dream, and in the process show this kid that Gato isn't untouchable." Naruto said while pointing to the overly depressed child.

"Let me tell you right now that Gato is going to die, maybe not by my hands but it will happen after we take care of Zabuza and his friend." Naruto told him in all seriousness.

"Where are you going? I should at least know." Kakashi asked. "Into the forest. It won't be as much exercise as I get in the Forest of Death, but it'll work well enough." Naruto stated and left.

"Kakashi-sensei what is the Forest of Death?" Sakura asked the man. "You'll find out yourself I'm sure. Come on we'll be training as well." he said as he got up with the help of crutches, leading them out the door with the two remaining genin wondering why the blond didn't have to train with them.

(In the forest)

Once inside the forest Naruto had instantaneously chopped a tree down and had used as a makeshift weight.

He was currently doing a handstand with the tree trunk balanced on his feet while moving himself up and down, and thinking to himself.

_'I'm not sure if it was me or not, but I know I seemed a lot weaker when compared to Zabuza. What's wrong with me? Am I not strong enough, or is it something deeper than that?'_ Naruto contemplated.

He was beginning to think that there was something that Roronoa Zoro had that he didn't, and that thought in and of itself made him believe he was staining his predecessor's name.

Apparently his thinking went on a lot longer than he thought when he saw that the sun was setting, at this point he thought it was due time for a break and decided to take a nap.

About twenty minutes had passed when Naruto felt a hand nudge him, and with his past experiences he immediately drew his sword and had it at the offenders neck. Only to have his eyes widen in surprise at seeing that it was a girl that had awoken him.

"Sorry." he said simply, though he tried to avoid eye contact with her. If Naruto had to describe the girl in front of him in a word that word would have been along the lines of 'beautiful' or 'gorgeous', and if he looked at her he was afraid he'd blush.

"It is alright, Mr. samurai." she told him, though he looked a bit peeved at her. "First off, I am no samurai. I'm a ninja. Secondly, what are you doing prowling around, waking people from their naps?" he asked and thankfully kept the emotions he was feeling under control.

"I can't just stand by and allow someone to catch a cold, can I?" she asked him with a smile that actually did make him blush, which she saw.

"I wouldn't catch a cold from this. I've been through a lot worse." he told her, and she suddenly got in his face by leaning forward with her hands interlaced behind her **(You all know the way)**.

"Really? Well perhaps a strong man like you would like to help me pick some herbs, as an apology for putting your sword at my neck." she said with a devious smile that made Naruto sweatdrop _'What is it with Wave country women?' _he thought, but had to agree.

"So what are you gathering all these herbs for anyway?" Naruto asked while picking the herbs and placing them in Haku's, the girl's name, basket. "I need them to help me heal my precious person." she stated with a small smile.

"Precious person?" Naruto asked, the term lost on him. "Yes. Do you not understand?" she asked genuinely.

His silence answered her question "That is a person you care for, and would do anything to protect. When a person has something that they truly want to protect that is when they are at their strongest." she told the ninja swordsman.

_'Precious people.'_ he thought he only had a couple of those in his life at the moment, but he would do anything to protect them. _'Old man, Teuchi and Ayame, Iruka, the genin teams, Konohamaru,and even Anko.'_ he shuddered at that last name, ever since he started training in the Forest of Death Anko believed she had some sort of claim to him that made him her property.

"Thank you for your help." she told him as she got up to walk away, but his voice stopped her "Thank you, Haku. You know in my village there's this annoying kid that follows me around and calls me 'boss'." Naruto told her, while she was wondering what he was getting at.

"He keeps telling me that I say things that 'sound cool' a lot if I'm serious enough. I just tell him that I just say those things out of nowhere with no intention of sounding cool, but now I know how it feels." he told her, implying that she had said a 'cool phrase.'

"That little talk we just had cleared my head on a matter that was holding my strength back during my training." he then flashed a smile at her, which was very rare for anyone that knew him after the change.

This had the affect of making the girl blush herself, before she hurriedly gathered her basket and darted off.

"That was weird. That was how Hinata usually acts around me, maybe its a girl thing." Naruto shrugged it off and went back to his training.

The blond didn't realize that Haku was hiding behind a tree with a sorrowful look on her face "I'm sorry that we'll end up being enemies, Naruto." she shed a single tear before leaving.

**AN: Done. I feeling pretty good, I finally put a chapter out. You're probably wondering why I hadn't posted well. SCHOOL. SUCKS.**

**P.S.: For anyone that is able to remember back in the beginning of the One Piece manga, aren't wondering if Luffy will add another crew member 'cause he said he wanted a ten man crew, and he would always count himself in so he still needs one more.**

**I personally believe it'll be Kuzan, because it looks like he might be tailing them if his going to Punk Hazard is anything to go by. Might ask to join since they aren't technically enemies anymore. He strikes me as the guy who would fight pirates, even if he liked them because of his job. **


End file.
